Doom Gloom? Not!
I went to a blog that I am sad to say I was once part of yesterday and it sounded like the Dodgers were dead and buried. Even on this blog, fans are singing the song of gloom and doom. I really don t get it! This is baseball where anything can happen and frequently does. Everyone was holding up Houston as a team that the Dodgers cannot bet, but here
I went to a blog that I am sad to say I was once part of yesterday and it sounded like the Dodgers were dead and buried. Even on this blog, fans are singing the song of gloom and doom. I really don’t get it! This is baseball… where anything can happen… and frequently does. Everyone was holding up Houston as a team that the Dodgers cannot bet, but here they are in the same place as the Dodgers – tied 2-2 facing a deciding game with Tampa Bay in a “winner take all” situation.
The fact is: from day one, many have hated Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts for reasons (well, no “reason” is actually involved) only they know. Here are a couple of examples:
I. So the big questions are, WHY did DR put two injured pitchers, Kelly and Hill on the post-season roster? WHY did he choose to let Hill start game 4? Why did he put Lux at 2nd, and play him there the whole game, when he could have played Kiké Hernandez there instead? WHY did he have to take Maeda out for a PH? and especially, Why did he use a 0-12, 10 KO, Pollock? Maeda could have pitched another inning, and he is definitely a better hitter than Pollock is, right now. Freeze was 3-3 last night, and didn’t even start game 3, so why did he not get the start in game 4? Where are the big bats? They are Missing in Action! We’ll have to wait and see what other bonehead Management decisions arise for game 5.
II. You can’t place all the blame on Roberts when the front office didnt do their job. When adam kolarek was the lone pitching acquisition at the trade deadline that should tell you all you need to know about this. Look pitching wins championships and the Dodgers dont have great pitching. The staff is serviceable maybe even pretty good but not great. The onus was on the front office to fill in those gaps and they refused to part with a couple of Prospects or spend any money. We have known all season long that the bullpen had holes but they could have used another starter as well with the injury to rich hill. They used hill because they literally had nobody else to start in that game. Again that should tell you something. If hill doesnt start then the choices were mediocre Maeda who seems to be better in short outings then as a starter or rookie may who cant go more than 5 innings anyways. Again that’s on the front office.
I could go on and on. Those are just two comments. Here are the facts:
- Dodgers Starters ERA – #1 in NL
- Dodgers Bullpen ERA – #1 in NL
- Dodgers Team ERA – #1 in NL
What drivel! Look, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg are two of the best pitchers in baseball and the Nationals are capable of beating the Dodgers, just as the lowly Rays are capable of beating the Astros, but I don’t buy into the fear-mongering. The Dodgers have scored more runs in the playoffs than the Nationals, Braves, Astros, Cardinals, Twins, and of course, the Brewers and the Athletics. Only the Rays and the Yankees have scored more. The Dodgers have 7 HR while the Rays lead with 10. The Yankees have 5 and no one else has more than 4.
The Twins, Nationals, Astros, and Cardinals have all given up more runs than the Dodgers. The Dodgers are capable of playing with anyone, but in baseball, stuff happens. When good or great pitchers have their stuff, balls look like strikes as they leave the pitcher’s hands. You can say that the Dodgers “chased too many pitches out of the zone” but that’s what happens with great pitching. A hitter has a split second to make a decision and the pitch starts out looking like a strike and then moves or dives out of the zone. It’s so simple to say “don’t swing at that stuff.” But, it’s hard to do in real life.
The Dodgers have the same plan they have all year – But GOOD PITCHING STOPS GOOD HITTING. Today is a new day. It’s Strasburg versus Buehler. Strasburg is on 5 days rest and Striker is on 6 days rest. Will the extra rest help or hinder him? We are about to find out. At first sign of faltering, Clayton Kershaw will follow Buehler and Clayton has been very good in relief. I think the Dodger’s depth and talent will prevail, but it doesn’t always work that way. This is baseball… it’s beautiful and maddening!
Second-guessers are never wrong and that’s why they second guess. “Doc should have started __________________ (fill in the blank). ” They always know better. Actually, they are just miserable critics, who come to the battlefield after the battle and shoot the wounded. Teddy R. said it best:
Critics are a joke to me. This is where we are. On the brink of going home or advancing to the Championship Round. The Astros are also there. It’s not on Dave Roberts or Andrew Friedman – it’s up to the players to execute. That’s it! It’s that time… It is so VERY, VERY hard to get to back-to-back-to-back World Series! VERY HARD!
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Discussion (178)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Watching last nights game was like watching a horror movie. The people being chased continue to make bad decisions. It is what they do.
I have always been a Doc supporter, but I have seen enough. He is a good manager during the season, but not post season. Here is why I say this.
1. Kershaw was an elite pitcher, but not anymore. He is aging and lost some off his fast ball and he has trouble controlling the curve. Pitching out of the bull pen has not worked well. I like Kershaw and always will. I want him to be a Dodger for life.
2. You have Kolarek on the team for one reason only. Pitch to a tough left hander. Soto is a good left hand hitter. Why was he not used?
3. I am not upset with Kelly. He did not pitch much in September. One inning is all you could ask him to pitch.
4. If Doc has no faith in Jansen or Baez, why have them on the play off roster?
There is plenty of blame to go around. Some players did not play well. Baseball is a tough game. I am not mad at any player. None. I am mad at Doc and the bench coach. After three years of play offs, I cannot trust Doc to make the right decisions. Usually people learn from their mistakes. Doc has not. Three years is enough of this nonsense. First year, I expect a manager to make mistakes. I do expect a manager to get better each year. Doc has not.
Well. I am back. All of my predictions came true. I was castigated for posting them, but alas, Dave Roberts proved my right. The best record in baseball loses to the Wild Card Team. Only in LA. Roberts should never had said bad things about Trump. He cursed the Dodgers after those dumb comments he made mid-season when Roberts was on top of world. Running his mouth. Hate me if you want, but I told you so.
@#$%^&*( ugh I hate the game of baseball!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Just back from the game. very disappointed in Roberts and his call to put Kershaw in when he did.and then Joe Kelly . a total bad call on his part. and it cost us the game. I truly believe the outcome of the game would of went in our favor if not for these mistakes. unfortunately it cost us.everything
I think the owners wanted an early start to the ballpark renovations….lol
The Dodgers struck out 65 times in the 5 games!!! That is SIXTY-FIVE times. They could have played all night and the Dodgers wouldn’t have scored again. Look at all those goose eggs after the second inning.
This is a black day for all Dodger fans. Having watched them strike first and carry the lead, good old Doc pulls out his bag of tricks and we lose. Rather than re-iterate the details that many have posted already, there are some key points that need to be addressed.
1. Doc. The worst in-game manager I can remember. Mattingly was bad, but Doc is by far, the worst. After all the spin that Mark and some others fed us about Doc and how he is clearly the best, I’m a bit surprised at how many posters here have aired their disapproval of him, yet said very little during the season. 3 years of his mis-management is enough, isn’t it?
2. Doc may be prone to ineptness, but the players just don’t come through as a team. 3 years in a row, this year being the worst. Bellinger an MVP? No way. We just got beat by the NL MVP, Rendon.
3. Kershaw cannot pitch in the post season, has been giving up more HR’s than ever, has fallen behind at the start of games, but leveled out to hold on. This doesn’t cut it in important games. He’s a good pitcher, but chokes in the playoffs. What can I say? What is the difference between not executing and choking?
4. In spite of the best victory total in franchise history, the FO should make some important changes if they want to win it all. Their blue print, which is outstanding for home grown production, needs more attention to the FA market and picking up the talent that is there every year for the signing. The Pollock signing was a major blunder as well as Kelly. Freidman’s achilles heel is the FA market. He stinks.
5. Joe Kelly, who was a disappointment from the get-go, whom our head blogger insisted would become lights out by season’s end, should be publicly hanged in Century City. Mark should issue a public apology to those of us who knew better and serve as the hangman.
There is so much more, but I need a drink first. lol
Poor Kersh!
Dave Roberts said the decision for Clayton Kershaw to start the 8th was not an “analytic question.” Kershaw, he said, “is a guy I believe in.” Roberts indicated plan was for Kershaw to face Rendon and Soto, before bringing in Maeda for Nats right-handers.
Well, on the bright side it worked out just like Roberts planned.
That said…..
He may actually be stoned.
typical soft west coast team.Folded when lights are brightest, just like the last 7 years.
Kershaw and Jansen should have been out this year. They feast on Padres, Pirates, Marlins, then crap the bed when it matters. FO didnt learn and rolled with this crap. You could see it coming a mile away. Belli and Seager were garbage…more ineptness when needed most.
I feel so bad for all the loyal Dodgers fans, and those here,; and of course I have followed and rooted for the Dodgers since they came to Los Angeles when I was a young boy. We do not deserve this, not considering the massive attendance, and all the money the franchise makes. The owners deserve it, but they don’t care nearly as much, so it won’t bother them. The manager deserves it, even if he cares. The Front Office has its share of blame, too.
Teams lose games, yes, the playoffs are hard, of course, blah, blah. This is the first team to win over 103 games and lose in the first round of the playoffs. All the problems that some of us saw even with all that winning, rose up in the big games. Very little hitting. Certain players looking awful at the plate. The bullpen not being nearly deep or reliable enough to go all the way, because the ownership and FO refused to do enough to fix it in the offseason or the regular season. We needed another starter once Hill was hurt, but they didn’t get one.
Roberts made a terrible decision to decide to use Kershaw as early as a couple of days ago. He does not pitch well in early innings, witness Game 2. I know why they used him, because they didn’t have faith in the bullpen, surprise. The biggest mistake was leaving him in after the first home run. That was an abysmal choice. That was the game. Why do they think that Kershaw who had pitched in relief once in his MLB career, three years ago, was the guy to use? Why??? And after one HR, you get him out!
But the bitter consolation is that once the game was tied, we were not going to win, we were not going to score again. We’ve seen this before in the playoffs, as in St. Louis a few years ago. We scored no runs after the third inning.
Roberts, like Mattingly ,seems to have no feel for when to take someone out sooner than later. But getting rid of him would not fix the major problem, which is an ownership which refuses to build a championship roster. Cashman in NY has mostly done that. Luhnow in Houston has. St. Louis is on its way, maybe Atlanta. We are not. We do very well with the players we have, but the major weaknesses are not shored up, and I keep emphasizing why. Washington is not that good, though they are certainly not easy to beat. We got very few key hits. We have no reliable bullpen, this is obvious, when you compare with Tampa Bay or New York or St. Louis. Ownership says “That’s enough to spend,” and that’s all we get. The fans do not deserve this, though ownership does. I am just listening to Kershaw, and I admire him, he is gutty enough to stand up and take the blame. He is not to blame, really, he should not have been in there then, not after the first HR. If we had a deep bullpen like some of those other teams, we never would have done that.
If CK get past this last performance, and I’m not sure he does, he will seriously need to study other pitchers who remade themselves from a power pitcher to a true pitcher and not a thrower. CK’s FB and CB were always enough to allow him to beat the Rockies, Pirates, Mets, Marlins (and others) in the regular season but his 89-90 MPH straight FB is not good enough to get good MLB hitters out consistently.
Chase Utley for our next manager. Doc is let go and agrees to mange the Padres. I’m delirious right now.
Well, that sucked. I’m reading a lot of folks are stunned, and honestly that’s the last emotion I’m feeling. It’s human to visualize your nightmare scenarios and I’ve ruminated over this such scenario many, many a time. This could be a good thing. We’ve given it three really good goes, but fell short each year for basically the same reasons. Might be time not to break up the band…but shuffle some key members. It was a great ride! Dodgers played some really entertaining baseball. I just wished that was enough.
You guys are going to bed. I’ve got a day to get through.
Can’t believe what I just saw.
Props to Bluto, he was calling it before it happened throughout.
7 years of playoffs – 7 years with this feeling.
I never accepted Joe Kelly as a Dodger. Just look at his career stats.
The lack of using Freese is mind boggling.
You can always strike out Seager low and inside. Unfortunately who are you going to play at SS.
A.J. Pollock cannot hit righties as I’ve said all season long.
Fire Dave Roberts.
Wow.
I mean….
Wow.
It’s not as bad as 2017, but it sure looked like Roberts was either:
1. Stoned
2. Trying to lose
3. On acid?
I’ll actually start the autopsy right now, because I’ve been thinking about this for a while (and I’m sure I will have to re- post something similar when this thread stops taking comments tomorrow.
I’m not an expert on Dodgers finances, and I like building a team from within. However, there are times when It is necessary to use free agency when it can make a major difference. And I think that time is now. If they can, I would like to see the Dodgers make a very strong effort to sign Anthony Rendon and Gerritt Cole.
In the case of Rendon the Dodgers would be adding a player that could be a major replacement for Turner after his final contract year in 2020, and for next year either Turner or Rendon could take over at first base. And if Turner doesn’t come back in 2021, there will be room for a prospect at that time.
There’s more that I can say, but I’ll wait for reactions before I comment any further.
Wait till next year! Even though I’m stunned at the moment, I’ll be back.
That is the most gut wrenching defeat of all time.
I cannot fathom some of the decisions and execution that I have just seen
That really was inept.
Kolarek has owned Soto.
I got nothing. Still stunned. Just got nothin’. Wow, just, wow…..
Doc has certainly given his second guessers all the ammo they need.
I honestly don’t understand how anyone can want Roberts back for another season. Seems like a great man, but he is just not up to the job.
It’s been shown over and over and over and over.
Why wouldn’t they consider Ryu to start the 10th inning? There’s no tomorrow and kelly for two innings is a disaster waiting to happen.
I know I might be questioned heavily for this but the off season brought us AJ Pollock and Joe Kelly. AJ couldn’t hit water of he fell out of a boat and lost his playing time to a rookie while Kelly blew it big time. Say what you want but after 2 WS losses and then not advancing past the NLDS it might be time for AF to trade some assets for new talent.
We can start the autopsy as AC says tomorrow.
It’s hard being a Dodger fan. Sigh.
They need to leave Joe Kelly in all night. . . and into the next day . . . week . . . month. This could be the longest 10th inning ever.